Help with Thailand visa!

Lipstik.Junky

Hoping someone can help with this..after trawling through numerous threads and visa sites I am more confused than when I started!! flying into Bangkok on 4/7/2012 and planning to travel to Laos, onto Vietnam, then Cambodia and then back into Thailand to explore some of the islands before departing from Bangkok on 15/8/2012...in total 42 days...What type of visa will we need?? I understand we qualify for visa exemption which entitles us to 30 days in Thailand...is this got on arrival or do we need paperwork?Will this combined with a visa from the cambodian border suffice?? Or do we need visas in advance because our departure date is more than 30 days?? reeeally dont want to be refused entry but funds are tight so looking for the most cost friendly option!! Any help appreciated and thanks in advance

pipelaser

Hey, Im only back from Thailand a month.
Any time you fly into Thailand you get a 30 day Visa, every time. Any time you travel over land you get a 15 day visa, every time. So, when you come back in over land from Cambodia or whatever, you will get another 15 days. If you're about to run over the 15 days, you just have to go to the nearest border and get another 15 days.

A few Tips!
Go for a week in Pai, Its in the North West. Its amazing!
Chaing Mai is pretty Cool too.
Stay in the Spicy hostels while in both Pai and Chaing Mai.

Also. Bring Passport photos, they request them at the borders while they're giving you your entry Visas.

Lipstik.Junky

Great thanks so much!! So I don't need the 60 day visa from the thai embassy because my flights are over 30 days apart do I?

wallpaper12

Technically you do need a visa, but the chances of being asked to prove you are leaving the country within 30 days are very slim. However the chance is still there so you can risk it or get a visa or book a cheap flight out of thailand that you wont use.

pipelaser

Take a flight from the last country before Thailand with Air Asia. Its dirt cheap. You could get a flight for €60 if you book the day before!

Lipstik.Junky

Yeah I had read something about booking a cheap flight out of the country...will prob fly to Laos then if its not too expensive! Thanks so much

wallpaper12

Flying to Laos from North of Thailand is really really expensive and you will prob want to do the slow boat. I booked a flight from hat yai to KL last year for 15 euro even though I had no intention of using it. Much cheaper and less hassle than the visa, not that I got asked at immigration or anything...

Lipstik.Junky

Yep just checked flights there incredibly expensive!! Thats def a no-go....what airline did u book with and how long in advance? how long does the slow-boat take? A while I'd imagine

wallpaper12

Booked with air asia a couple of weeks in advance, they always have flight promos so you should have no problem picking up a cheap flight.

If your leaving Chiang mai to go to laos what usually happens is you leave Chiang mai midday, it takes a couple of hours to the border you will over night at the border then 2 day slow boat to Luang prabang. Its about 8 or 9 hours on the boat everyday. The quality of the boat varies, my boat was crowded and had horrible wooden seats and I hated it, most people seem to like it though.

Another time I got the overnight bus, so leave Chiang mai midday again cross the border then onto the overnight bus for about 16 hours. Its not a sleeper bus though so you might be uncomortable, I popped a sleeping pill and slept most the way though, feet were massively swollen by the end though! But its about 1/3 of the time for the slow boat so good if you are stuck for time

JayC5

Hi folks,

I'm also going to Thailand this summer and I'm planning on applying for a 60 day visa.

Is this the valid site for applying from Ireland?

http://www.thaiconsulateireland.com/

Looks a bit dodgy to me... like a website from the late 90's!

dejopadu

dont worry too much about visa in thailand, or any of the sea(south east asia) countries. if you are travelling around & crossing borders, each time you cross a border u will get a new entry visa.

also for thailand, you are 'allowed' to over stay in thailand, not sure of how long, but it has happened me before & when you try to leave the country you will need to pay a small fee.

finally, if you are running out of time, you can go to one of the border crossing, cross over & get the passport stamped & then return straight back to thailand. i did it recently in ranong, went over to kawthong in myanmar on the boat. most people just got the passport stamped & got back on the boat but i spent the day there & was impressed, nice town with an amazing temple